|
|
Post by tomcatpc on Sept 13, 2015 18:54:02 GMT -8
Hello I found this US Divers Aquamatic Regulator, in all places, at a antique shop in Toledo, Ohio, US. From what I hear, these were in production in the late 50's to early 60's and one of the early single hose Regs. from US Divers? Or at that is what I heard... Anyway here it is.  This small bottle came with it as well...  5-45 date, with latest hyd date 1966. Valve dated 1959 and still has air pressure. Thanks Mark |
|
|
|
Post by SeaRat on Sept 13, 2015 20:22:42 GMT -8
Mark,
You have the first U.S. Divers Company single hose regulator that they ever manufactured. I have one, and have taken it into a pool, but I will not dive it in open water. It has a membrane diaphragm which is held in only by that rubber ring you see on the outside. That's it! It also is not an easy breathing regulator. Saying that, National Geographic ran a photo of a diver using this regulator at about 90 feet in the early 1960s.
John
|
|
|
|
Post by kgehring on Sept 14, 2015 2:07:52 GMT -8
U S Divers Vigo will make a nice display.
|
|
|
|
Post by nikeajax on Sept 14, 2015 11:09:07 GMT -8
WOW Mark--neat-o-paskeeto! Now you have something most of us DON'T have  That tank is really cute: what, is that about a 20-CF? Jaybird |
|
|
|
Post by SeaRat on Sept 14, 2015 17:56:54 GMT -8
I posted this on Facebook for Mark:
I also took my Aquamatic apart, and looked at the twin levers in the second stage, which are activated not by a simple slide on the diaphragm, but by a large plastic cone which slides between the two levers. This cone is connected to the center of the diaphragm, and there are holes punched around the center, which is the exhalation openings, covered by a mushroom exhaust valve. I'll take some photos if anyone is interested.
John
|
|
|
|
Post by nikeajax on Sept 14, 2015 18:05:53 GMT -8
EEEEWWW-EEEWWWW-EWWWW--I am, I am! I to'lly wanna know how dat danged t'ings woiks!
JB
|
|
|
|
Post by tomcatpc on Sept 14, 2015 18:50:08 GMT -8
I know nothing about the tank... What little I could find on it, it is possibly 18 CF? If I have this right, it has a date of May 1945 stamped on it, with a hyd. date of 1966 (if I read it right). Maybe...(big guess here)...these were surplus from the War, bought and re-purposed by Aqua-Lung??? Could they have been 02 Bail Out Bottles that were never used?
Mark
|
|
|
|
Post by SeaRat on Sept 14, 2015 22:37:16 GMT -8
Okay, Jaybird and any others, here's what the second stage of this regulator looks like. I'll start with a few exterior photos. Then in a second post, the more internal ones.  Note that my first stage looks a bit different from Mark's above. I think mine is a bit older, but need to check Basic Scuba to be sure.  The Aquamatic, the first single hose regulator by US Divers Company, had a purge button!  Here's the lettering on the second stage. The second stage was designed in this way because, from what I've heard, Jacques Cousteau felt that the ideal mouthpiece was a horizontal cylinder, just like his double hose regulators. This concept continued, but not by US Divers Company; the Cyclon 300 had the same type mouthpiece design.  This molded rubber ring is the only thing holding the internal parts together, and it does so only using the elasticity of the rubber.  If the rubber ring is pulled away, the entire top "box" of the regulator comes off.  This is the exterior of the diaphragm, which is a complexly molded and manufactured one-of-a-kind process. Note the mushroom valve, but not actually mushroom, as it is simply a flat circular design. I'll continue in a second post. John |
|
|
|
Post by SeaRat on Sept 14, 2015 22:51:02 GMT -8
Aquamatic internals, continued:  This is the inside of the diaphragm. Note the large "lever actuator" that is actually attached to the diaphragm, but listed as a separate part.  These are the two demand levers, which act in concert with the lever actuator (which when pulled inward engages both equally).  Here is the lever actuator, attached to the demand diaphragm ("diaphragm cup" in the parts list). It is a molded piece that fits over the end of the mouthpiece housing.  On the other side of the "diaphragm cup" is the exhaust valve. It is the concept of a mushroom valve, without the "mushroom" for sealing. It depends totally on water pressure to seal it, so I imagine it can be wet at times inside.  Here is the exhaust ports, and the bottom of the purge button. Well, that's most of the interior. The parts I haven't shown are the "disc retainer and disc assembly," and the spring and retaining bushing. I don't want to break this regulator down further, as it still holds air. I apparently did not have the lever actuator situated between the levers when I tried it out earlier. It's breathing is much better than when I first tried it, probably about 3 inches of water pressure, as I put it carefully back together. So it probably was about the same as the Broxton Green Label regulator that I have used in open water. Mark, I just checked Basic Scuba, and yours is the earlier version. My first stage came later, just before the Professional Aquamatic was released, as it is the first stage of the Professional Aquamatic. John |
|
|
|
Post by nikeajax on Sept 15, 2015 7:49:13 GMT -8
John, excellent--thank you sir! I had no idea what those weird plugs did when I saw it in basic Scuba. Yeah, I could see how that rubber retaining ring would be worrisome, and quite disconcerting just thinking about it. It reminds me of the Tekna: I have one that as usual, is broken at the body where the hose attaches to the body. I'd like to make a stainless steel sleeve to epoxy into the body and make that sucker work!
JB
|
|
|
|
Post by SeaRat on Sept 15, 2015 11:25:03 GMT -8
Jaybird, The Aquamatic was, I think, the only regulator ever to use the conical diaphragm actuator to engage the demand lever(s). In theory, this gives tremendous mechanical advantage. But that is cancelled by the complex molded diaphragm assembly, and was later abandoned as a design, first in favor of a complex double lever assembly (Professional Aquamatic) and then the simpler single lever (Calypso and Conshelf). From the diagrams, it is difficult to understand that the triangle on the page is in readily a cone-lshaped design. In this case, two-dimensional drawings don't translate easily into a real three-dimensional picture of this regulator. Note also the long rod protruding from the nose of the cone. This is to guide the cone between the levers. Nfrom an engineering perspective, it is a very interesting design. I wonder what it would take to make a hot-rodded Aquamatic preform like a Calypso?  'Just a thought (after reading about your DivAir II). John |
|
|
|
Post by kgehring on Sept 15, 2015 15:31:22 GMT -8
18 cu ft tank at 1800 psi
|
|
|
|
Post by Seahuntjerry on Sept 17, 2015 20:37:18 GMT -8
I have an Aquamatic with a good diaphram almost impossible to find or get air from.
Unbelievable Picture of Guy on the Virgo wreck at 200 feet using one SDM 1960's
|
|
|
|
Post by surflung on Sept 18, 2015 7:49:38 GMT -8
I know nothing about the tank... What little I could find on it, it is possibly 18 CF? If I have this right, it has a date of May 1945 stamped on it, with a hyd. date of 1966 (if I read it right). Maybe...(big guess here)...these were surplus from the War, bought and re-purposed by Aqua-Lung??? Could they have been 02 Bail Out Bottles that were never used? Mark
Hi Tomcat,
- That USD Vigo 18 looks to be in excellent condition. I was wishing I had one when I was a kid back in 1961 and saw another kid who's dad had bought him a Vigo 18. Now that I'm old, I found a decent one on Ebay and bought it for my grandsons... I got it hydroed and the boys have used it MANY times now. The original harness didn't work very well and I ended up making a nice adaptation of a plastic USD backpack to fit a little boy.
- I actually have this tank plus a Walter Kidd 18 cf CO2 tank that's converted to Scuba. The latest thing the two grandsons do now is try to run out of air faster than each other. I bought them wetsuits for $35 ea. At 2-3 feet deep, those 18 cf tanks last a good 20 minutes! Very nice, easy to wear tank for children and small people.
- Pictured below left is the USD catalog photo... Right is my Vigo 18 tank as I received it from the seller.
 
- Speaking of re-purposing... Yes, I believe these were originally war surplus tanks. The larger 38 cf surplus tanks were also available from USD. And, there's a neat bunch of photos on the MN Scuba Board of Bob Travis Keagle and his early MN Dive Shop where he converted a lot of surplus 38s to Scuba.
|
|
|
|
Post by tomcatpc on Sept 18, 2015 9:16:19 GMT -8
What lucky kids!!!
Was the Vigo 18 marketed towards children?, or was US Divers just trying to sell off a bunch of War Surplus they had lurking in their stock, or both.
Not sure I have any use for the tank, other than it is a neat thing to have. I do plan on keeping it.
Was the Aquamatic an expensive reg. when it was introduced?, or was it marketed towards the budget minded?
Mark
|
|
That tank is really cute: what, is that about a 20-CF?
'Just a thought (after reading about your DivAir II). 
